Bowed expander roll



May 12, 1936. I c, w SQUTE 2,040,411

BOWED EXPANDER ROLL Filed May 8, 1935 INVENTOR.

WWW

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE 2,040,411 I BOWED EXPANDER' ROLL Mass.

Application May 8, 1935, Serial No. 20,359

Claims.

The invention is an improvement in bowed cloth spreading or expanding devices on the order of the well known Mycock expander of U. S. Letters Patent No. 687,847 granted to W. Mycock 5 December 3, 1901, and in particular relates to bowed expanders having central supports as shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,233,059 granted to A. Isherwood on July 10, 1917.

Rubber sleeves or covers over the rotating metallic bobbins forming the curved rolls of these expanders are necessary to prevent injury to the finer fabrics on which these expanders are now used, and also to obtain adequate frictional engagement withsmooth-surfaced fabrics, such as rayon, to ensure their proper expansion. Concurrently, the width' of the fabrics operated upon and-the high tension at which these fabrics are run through the expander in order to get the maximum spreading or expanding action on the cloth has compelled the use of the central supports of the above Isherwood patent, to prevent springing the stationary bowed shafts for the bobbins up or down out of their intended working position.

When the bowed rolls are thus supported at midlength, it is necessary also to interrupt the rubber sleeve at the corresponding location in the width of the machine to provide a non-rotating point at which to apply the support. In use, the resistance of the fabric to expansion creates a force acting powerfully to crowd the rubber sleeve inwardly toward the center line of the machine; but the rubber cover must be held clear of con- 35 tact with any relatively moving surface on the machine, such as the stationary central supports, else the expensive rubber covering will be speedily worn, torn, twisted, swollen, or otherwise ruined for further use. It has not been possible to prevent this inward creep of the rubber sleeve with respect to its supporting bobbins through any known method of fitting or attaching the sleeve to the bobbins.

The principle employed in the invention for overcoming the inward creep and resultant damage to the rubber sleeve is that of presenting a fiat surface to the end of the rubber sleeve that is adjacent the central support, to take the end thrust of the sleeve and. thus make the latters combined stiffness and resilience resist its tendency to creep. But rubber parts on high-speed machinery are notoriously difficult to control and hold in place, and the problem is not simple.

There must be no relative movement between the end of the sleeve and the thrust-receiving element it engages, else the rubber will be worn and abraded. The element thus used must of course not exceed in its diameter the diameter of the sleeve, because the cloth extends clear across the machine and over and under the central supports. The rubber will swell and ride over any flat thrust washer, as a result of endthrust coupled with the powerful centrifugal force developed when the rolls are compelled to rotate in unison with fabric run through them at speeds frequently higher than 300 feet per minute. But, most important of all, whatever is used to receive the thrust must be incapable of being twisted, wrung, broken, or torn off, as if this occurs the element or a part of it will in most cases be carried by the cloth into and between the calendar rolls immediately following and fed by the expander, there to do costly damage to the rolls and their supporting structure.

With the aim of providing a satisfactory solution to the various problems enumerated, I have devised the improvement in the means of mounting and holding the rubber sleeves on their bobbins which is shown in the accompanying drawing and described in the following specification.

An illustrative embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view ofa bowed roll expander having central supports and rubber sleeves over the bobbins forming the rolls.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the parts at the end of the rubber sleeve that is adjacent the central support.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the parts at the end of the roll that is away from the central support.

Fig. 4. is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing is shown only so much of a three-roll bowed expander of the type shown in Isherwood Patent 1,233,059 as is necessary for an understanding of the invention. As shown, the expander rolls I are mounted on non-rotating bowed shafts 3 disposed in or parallel to a common plane and rigidly held in mountings 5 on the side-frames I of the machine. At midwidth of the machine are located the central supports 9, 9, supported from above in any suitable manner or from the tubular girt l0, Fig. 5, as in the patent, the intermediate support I i being supported from below in any suitable manner, or, as in the patent, by means of an adjustable standard I3 on a tubular girt l5. These central supports 9, II, in the present instance comprise simply bearings at the ends of the respective standards l3, I4, each bearing equipped with opposed split flanged bushings l6 through which the stationary curved shafts 3 extend. e r

The bobbins I! are of the type shown in U. S. Patent No. 1,719,375,0f polygonal section as shown in Fig. 4 and provided with a raised band or ridge t ends, the construction having advantages in preat midlength providing shoulders at its opposite venting relative rotational or endwise movement between the bobbin and its overlying rubber sleeve 20. The bobbins are provided at opposite ends with the usual flangedbushings 22 'to take the wear arising between the bobbins and their shaft.

In accordance with the invention, the bobbin in each bowed roll that is next to the central sup- 7 port, 9, H, on either side of the latter, is made bead of the latters end wall, may be spread or flared after being driven into place. Theflopposite faces 26, 21, of the ferrule 25 are flat and parallel, and terminate in a second cylindrical lip 29 of greater internal diameter than the greatest diameterof the hexagonal bobbin I1. The lip 29 has a substantial extent in a direction along the axis of the shaft and away from the central supagainst such end thrust of the bobbins l1 and. the rubber sleeve 20.

When the rubber sleeve 20, is put in place on the bobbins, its extremity which is adjacent the central supports has been reduced in outside diameter for a short. distance as indicated at 33, and the reduced portion is fitted and wedged in tightly under the overhanging lip 29 of the fer,- rule to bear against the radial face 26' thereof which stands against the inward end of the bobbin into which it is driven. Thecontinuation of the hexagonal flats of the bobbin clear up to the face 25 of the ferrule being permitted by this two -piece construction, the lip 29 aids the angular shape of the bobbin exterior in preventing any relative rotation between the bobbin and its sleeve, while the nature of the immovable connection between the bobbin and its ferrule likewise prevents all relative movement between the latter and the sleeve thus held to the bobbin. No chance is given the sleeve to ride up and.- over the member which prevents it from creeping toward the central'support, as would be the case if a flat disk, flange, or washer were presented to the end of the sleeve, because the lip 29 prevents the end of the sleeve from expanding in diameter. As shown, the outside diameter of the ferrule is conesiderably' less than that of the sleeve, to prevent injury to the fabric from contact therewith even after substantial reduction of the thickness of the sleeve incident to wear in use.

A. related method of securing the outer ends of the sleeves V is also included in the invention. There, as shown in Fig. 3, a cup-shaped ferrule '35 is employed,.its lip 36 overlying the end 33 of the ferrule has no sleeve, being merely tapped and. screwed onto a threaded outward axial extension 31' of the end bobbin l1, and a bushing 39 is driven or pressed tightly into the outer end of this extension of bobbin I l, the ferrule and bobbin being secured together against unscrewing by rivets 4| passed through the radial portion of the ferrule and through the radial end-portion of the bobbin IT. The flanged exposed end of bushing 39 bears against a washer 43 interposed between it and the stop collar 45 on the extremity of the shaft, the wear thus falling wholly on the bushing and protecting the ferrule and its rivets.

While I have illustrated and described certain forms in which my invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein'by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as" expressed in the claims. Therefore, I'do not wish to be limited to the particular forms shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:-

1. Cloth expanding devices having in combination bowed shafts, expander bobbins rotatably mounted on such shafts, a non-rotating central support for the shafts, a rubber sleeve surrounding a plurality of these bobbons at one side of the central support, a ferrule overlying the, extremity of the rubber sleeve having a bush driven into the end of the bobbin adjacent the center support, and a bushing interposed between the bush and the shaft and between the ferrule and the center support.

2. Cloth expanding devices having in combine..- tion bowed shafts, expander bobbins rotatably mounted on such shafts, a non-rotating central support for the shafts, a rubber sleeve surrounding a plurality of these bobbins at one side of the central support, and means preventing relative endwise movement between the bobbins and the sleeve comprising a ferrule overlying'one extremity of the sleeve and having a bush driven into the end of the bobbin adjacent the center support, and a bushing driven into'the bush and having a portion interposed between the bobbin and the central support, a ferrule overlying the other extremity of the sleeveand in screwthreaded engagement with the bobbin, and means engaging the ferrule and the bobbin to prevent relative rotation.

3; Cloth expanding devices having in combination bowed shafts, expander bobbins rotatably mounted on such shafts, a non-rotating central support for the shafts, a rubber sleeve surround ing a plurality of these bobbins at one side of the a central support, and means having a portion en'- gaging the interior of the bobbin adjacent the central support to prevent relative motion between the said means and the said bobbin, 'a'portion holding the sleeve to the bobbin exterior, and

support, transmitting the end-thrust of the bobbin and the sleeve to the central support, and

having a portion overlying the periphery of the sleeve to hold the latter against radial and endwise movement with respect to the said bobbin.

5. A cloth expander having in combination a 10 non-rotating bowed supporting rod, a series of bobbins rotatably mounted thereon, a central support for the rod, a rubber sleeve surrounding a plurality of the bobbins, and a ferrule overlying the end of the sleeve adjacent the central support and completely enclosing the end of the sleeve and the end of the bobbin presented to the central support, and having a portion fixed to the interior of the bobbin adjacent the central support.

CHARLES W. SHUTE. 

